Pneumatic cotton picker or lapper



E. H. ROGERS PNEUMATIC COTTON PICKER 0R LAPPER June 3, 1930.

Filed Nov. 11, 1927 2 SheetsE-Sheet 1 N x wwm June 3, 1930. E. H. ROGERS PNEUMATIC COTTON PICKER OR LAiPER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov; 11, 1927 jnwemfr'o?" aiflorne ys Patented June 3,- 1930 UNITED STATES ERNEST HAROLD ROGERS, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA PNEUMATIC COTTON PICKER OR LAPIPER Application filed November 11, 1927. Serial No. 232,581.

Generically this invention relates to a machine for opening, cleaning and mixing fiber such as cotton fiber and the like, but is more especially directed to the type known as a picker or finisher lapper.

Generally machines of this type are worked in a battery or multiple unit connected to a main air flue by which dust, parn ticles of lint and other impurities are removed by an air current and delivered to a main bin, necessitating an elaborate piping system with attendant disadvantages, as will hereinafter more fully appear. Therefore a principal object of this invention is the elimination of such a system within the machine so that each machine constitutes a complete and individual operating unit.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a machine of this character embodying a complete system for recirculation of air within the machine, thereby eliminating the necessity of exhausting large volumes of air from the picker room and rendering it possible to economically heat the picker room.

A further object of this invention is the provisionof a machine embodying a recirculating air system, thereby eliminating the necessity of exhausting it from the room and rendering control of humidity therein feasible.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a re-circulating air system within a machine of this character, for

greatly reducing fire hazard by confining it, should it occur, within a single machine, 3 thereby preventing its spread through the dust pit back through dust fiues into other inachines, as is prevalent in the systems now 4 in use. a

Another object of this invention is the provision of a machine of this type embodying a complete re-circulating air system and dust bin rendering each machine a complete operating unit capable of being expeditiously moved to any location, at the same time effect a great saving in labor and material by the elimination of piping equipment 3 in View,

which will become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accomr.

panying drawings, in which like characters of reference indicate likeparts throughout the several figures, of which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a cotton picker or lapper-showingrection of the arrows, and showing the man ner of attaching the leather seal .to the frame; and

r Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional viewv taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing the relative position of the conveyor apron, feed rolls and leather seal with respect toeach other.

Heretofore in connection with the circulation of an air current through cotton picking machinery it was necessary to provide a system of piping whereby each machine was connected with a main dust pit, and which system was attended by many disadvantages, such as rendering it impossible to install a new machine or move a machine from one position to another without having to either add aditional piping or change the existing system accordingly; likewise, it was impossible to properly heat the picker room, and, also, the regulation of humidity within the picker room was effected with great difliculty. Further, the hazard from fire was very great, since if a fire developed in any machine the entire number of machines by virtue of the inter-connected air system, would likely be effected; and it was to overcome such deficiencies, by providing a re-circulating air system including a dust bin within each machine so that the machine is rendered easily portable, a great economy in heatin the picker room effected, the hazard from fire greatly reduced by confining it, should it occur, to a single machine, and controlling and keepin constant the rela-. tive humidity in the picker room so as to increase the efiiciency of the evener motion mechanism of the machine, since if the relative humidity can be kept constant and thereby the regain kept constant, the finished laps are consequently more uniform and better work is accomplished throughout the subsequent processes, that I designed the device forming the subject-matter ,of this invention.

In the illustrated embodiment character- ,izing this invention there is shown a maperpendicular support of conventional design, not shown. Said feed table is .provided with a plurality of spaced rollers 4, over which is adapted to travel endless conveyor apron 5. lso suitably mounted on frame 1, adjacent the inner end of conveyor 5 are a trio of feed rollers 6, which are adapted to deliver a cotton lap or other fibrous material (not shown) to the beater casing 8 to be acted on by beaters 9 rotatably mounted therein on shaft 10, and a passage 11 connecting beater casing 8 and screen casing 12 is formed at the top by a cover section 13,- one end of which is connected to the casing 8 as at 14, and the other end to screen cylinder casing 12, as at 15. Mounted in the casing 12 in substantial vertical alignment are the screen cylinders 16 and 17, respectively, secured on shafts 18 and 19 mounted insuitable hearings in the outwardly, downwardly and inwardly outstanding portions 20 of said casing to form air passages 21 on either side of i the casing as shown in Fig. 2, and by dotted line 22 in Fig. 1 and extend inwardly communicating at their lower ends with fan casing 23 in which is mounted fan 24 on shaft 25 also mounted in suitable bearings in said section 20, one end of said shaft extending beyond the section 20 on which is adapted to be mounted drive pulley 26.

Communication between the air passages 21 and the interior of the screen cylinders 16 and 17 at their upper ends is established by inlet openings 21*, and at their lower ends with fan casing 23 as at 23, and fan casing 23 is connected with dust bin 31 by passage 21 discharging into bin 31 at -A.. In order to permit access to the passages 21, the portions 20 of said casing are formed with a plurality of openings 20 which are provided with suitable closures not shown.

I The screen shafts 18 and 19 are connected by suitable gearing '27 and are driven b a suitable source of power notshown.

perpendicular. section 28 having its upper end suitably connected to the fan casing 23 and its lower end suitably connected as at cured to the sides of the frame 1, said section 32 adapted to form a baffle or top section of the M1131. A complemental section 35 having one end also suitably secured to and supported by the angle bar 34 and extending forwardly forming a continuation of the top of the bin 31 and upwardly form- 1 ing the perpendicular portion constituting a partition 36 to separate the screen dust from the moats, and which is formed at its sides with flanges 37 secured to the sides of the frame 1 by rivets or other fastening elements 38.

The front end of the machine is formed with an end section 39 having side extensions or wings 40 extending rearwardly at right angles. thereto and forming continuations of said frame members 1, the said wings being formed at their extremities with flap extensions 40 adapted to be rivetly or otherwise secured to the vertical section 41 of the frame 1, forming between partition 38 and end section 39 a continuation of dust bin 31, said member 39 and p01 tions 40 being suitably secured to the bottom 30.

In order to reach the interior of the dust bin 31 for cleaning or for other purposes, a door 42 hingedly mounted as at 43 is provided in end section 39. The curved deflector or top member 44 is suitably secured to the top edge of end member 39in a suitable manner and is curved upwardly to provide a space or outlet air passage B between the upper ends of members 36 and 41 and having its rear end bolted or otherwise suitably secured to angle bar 45 which is secured to frame 1 by depending strap members 46 at a point substantially underlying the feed rollers 6. Suitably secured by rivets or other similar fastening elements to angle bar 45 as at 47 is a leather seal member 48 correspondingi width to the bar 45 and extending forwar 1y beneath the rollers 6 as clearly shown in Fig. 4 to prevent escape of air through said rollers as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The lower portion of the beater casing 8 is formed with a grating 49 secured as at 50 to frame 1. At the bottom of passageway 11 is a screen grating 51 suitably mounted on frame 52 and the portion 53 of the screen casing 12 forms a continuation of the bottom of passage 11 and extends rearwardly to the cylinder 17 and downwardly as at 54 liver the lap through the chute 56 formed by rearwardly extending members 57 and 58 suitably secured to and forming a continuation of casing 12, from which chute the 'fiber is delivered to the finisher lap roller assembly 59 of conventional construction. The rear section of the machineis mounted on a base 60 corresponding in height to that ofthe dust bin-31 and the space between members 28 and 60 is occupied by-a dust proof space 61 formed by the rearwardly and upwardly extending section 62.

From the above it is apparent as shown by the path of the arrows 62 that a complete re-circula'tion of air within the machine is effected when the fan 24 is in operation. When themachine is in operation and the cotton fiber. or other material is delivered to beater casing 8, as it is acted on by beaters 9 the heavier lint particles or impurities will pass through rate 49 and as the air current carries the brous material through passage '11 less heavy particles and dust will pass through grating 51 and when the fibrous material-has come in contact with screen cylinders 16 and 17 the air circulation from fan 24 will separate and draw through said screen or perforated cylinders further dust and lint particles as shown by arrow lines 63 in 2 through air passages 2l depositing same in bin 31, the air current then passing to and over members 40 and 38 leaving the heavy ticles or moats in chamber 65 and the particles or dust in chamber 64, and thence passing on, a small amount through screen 49, but the major portion through screen 51 into passage 11 from which point the cycle is repeated.

'In this connection it will be noted by virtue of the grating structures 49 and 51, dust bin 31 and bafiles 36 and 41 mounted in the path of an air stream that sufficient dust, lint and the like will'be extracted from the air stream t o permit its repeated" use asa conveying agent through its recirculation within the machine.

From the-above description it is apparent that I have designed a machine of the above character formed with afdepository or bin and having a continuous air path within the machine passing through said bin,

adapted to pneumatically effect removal of undesirable particles and impurities from cotton fibers and the like as they pass therethroiigh. In this connection it will be noted that with slight alteration and with a minimum expenditure of labor and material my invention may be installed-in-machines already in use, by the provision of bin 31 and air passages 20, both bein'g'in communica-- tion with the fan casing 23, thereby eliminating the piping connections now employed and rendering each machine a complete individual operating unit.

Wh1le the operation of the device is, thought to be clear from the above description, it might be well to state further that from the course of the air path as indicated by the arrows it will be noted, that a portion of the air current enters the beater casing 8 through grating 49, suflicient only to tend to separate some of the finer particles from the fibrous material passing through passage 11, the heavier particles passing downwardly through the grating 49, the major portion of the current passing to contacting the fiber passing through such passage 11 with the rotating screen cylinders l6 and 17, drawing through the screen or perforated surfaces of said cylinders dust and other particles to be separated, leaving the cleaned fibersto pass between delivery rollers 55 and on through chute 56 to the finisher lap assembly 59, as is well understood. From the interior of the cylinders 16 and 17 the dust and lint laden air is drawn through passages 20, fan casing 23 and delivered to bin 31, as at A, and as the current passes through bin 31' and exhausts therefrom, as at B, the major portion of dust and particles carried from said cylinr ders will be deposited, the current passing on through the gratings 49 and 51 to passage 11, to repeat its cycle of travel. i

From the above description it is apparant that I have designed a system for the continuous circulatign of air and means for chines so equlpped.

It will further be noted in connection with the above description that when lint escapes through worn or faulty screens or screen leathers it can be detected and at once recovered since it will be collected in a flue at bottom of machine.

I also desire to state that the outlet from the fan can be raised,.making it unnecessary to raise the entire machine, especially in connection with new machines, and which is especially advantageous in machines for reworking wastewhere metal particles and other foreign materials 'get into the stock and often cause fire. This feature eliminates much time and labor in putting out dust pit fires which are especially disagreeable.-

While I have above explained that it is ordinarily hard to control humidity in from at the picker rooms, I desire to further emphasize that without this method it is practically impossible.

Although in practice I have found that the form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment, is the most efiicient and practical; yet realizing the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my invention will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts, may be resorted to within the scope-of the appended claims without departing from or sacrificing any of the principles of this invention;

Having thus described my invention, what I desire protected by Letters Patent is as set forth in the following claims:

1. In. combination with a cotton picker machine, an air circulating system within the confines of the machine, including 'a cotton conveying stretch and a return stretch, and means for conveying the cotton to and extracting it from the cotton conveying stretch.

2'. In combination with a cotton picker machine, an air circulating system within the confines of the machine, including a cotton'conveying stretch and return stretch, means for directing cotton to the initial end of the conveying stretch, and means for extracting it fromthe terminus of the stretch.

3. In combination With a cotton picker machine, an air circulating system. within the confines of the machine, including a cotton conveying stretch and a return stretch, means for directing cotton to the air stream at the initial end of the conveying stretch, means for removing it thereterminus of said stretch, said air stream of the return stretch adapted to convey extraneous articles from said terminus, and means or extractingzcertain of said particles fronrsaidstream priorto its return to said initial end of the conveying stretch.

. 4. A cotton picker machine, lncludlng an air circulating system entirely within the confines of the machine, means for directing machine, means for directing cotton to the air stream of said system, means for extracting cotton from said air stream, .means for returning said air stream to complete its of said system, means for removing i cycle, and means for removing extraneous particlesfro'm said air stream.

6. In combination with machine, a continuous air circulating system within the machine, means for directing cotton to the'air stream of said system, means for removing the cotton from the air stream from said air stream, and means for effecting the re-circulation of the air through said system.

7 In combination with a cotton picker machine, means for directing cotton to a current of air,'means for removing the cotton from said current of air, a dust bin within the machine, means for separating dust from said air current, and means for directing said current through said dust bin and returning it back to complete its cycle of travel within said machine.

8. In combination with a cotton picker machine having a dust bin therein, an air circulating system entirely within the machine, means for directing cotton to the air stream of said system, means for removing the cotton from said air stream, and means for returning said air stream through said dust bin to point of contact with the cot-ton,

and meansfor extracting dust from said air stream prior to the completion of its cycle.

9. In combination with a cotton picker machine, of a dust bin arranged in the base of the machine, means for directing cotton to a current of air, means for separating the cotton from said air current, means for'separating dust from said air current, and means for directing said current through the dust bin and returning it back to complete its cycle of travel, whereby the air is retained within the machine and repeatedly use 10. In combination with a cotton picker machine, a dust bin in said machine, means for directing cotton to an air current, means for separating the cotton from said air curr'ent, means for separating dust frotn said air current, and means for directing said a cotton picker dust current into said-dust bin in a horizontal direction through a portion thereof, and at right angles thereto through the remaining portion and returning said air to complete its cycle of, travel, .whereby it is retained within the machine and repeatedly used.

11. In combination with a cottompicker machine having a feed table and rotatable beater; a dust bin within the mach-inc adapted to receive dust, means for directing cotton to an air current, means for separating the cotton from said air current, means for separating dust from said air current, and means for directing the current through said dust bin and returning said airback to complete cycle of travel within the machine, and a sealing means to prevent the ISO air clrculating system entirely within the' 0011111185 of the machine, means for d1rect-- tween the feed table and rotatable beater.

13. In combination with a cotton picker machine, including screen cylinders, an a1r circulating system entirely withm the machine, means for directing a stream of cot ton to said air stream and cylinders, said cylinders adapted to remove the cotton from said air stream, means for removing dust from said air stream, and means for directing said air stream through said cylinders and returning it back to said air stream for repeated use.

14. In combination with a cotton picker machine, including a feed table, rotatable beater, screen cylinders, and feed rollers p0- sitioned intermediate the feed table and beater, of a bin Within the machine adapted to receive dust, means for directing a stream of cotton to said beater and cylinders and to an air stream, means for removing the cotton from said air stream, means for separating dust from said air stream, and means for directing said air stream through said screen cylinders and into and out of said bin andreturning it back to complete its cycle of travel, a portion of said air stream passing through said beater, and an air seal to prevent the escape of air through said feed rolls.

15. In combination with a cotton picker machine, including screen cylinders, a receptacle arranged in the base and front of the machine, an air circulating system within the machine, means for directing cotton to the air stream of said system, means for removing the cotton from said air stream, means for directing the air stream through said bin, and means for removing dust from said'stream during its passage through said bin.

, 16. A cotton picker machine, including an ing cotton to the air stream of said system, means for extracting the cotton from said air stream, a bin arranged in the base and front of said machine, the front and side walls of the front section being formed from a one-piece blank, and means for returning said air stream from said cotton I extracting means through said bin back to said extracting means, and means within the bin for removing dust from said air stream.

17. In a. machine for handling cotton and the like, having a fan and a casing in which it rotates, means forming part of-the machine defining a part of a conduit connected at one end with the fan casing, which fibrous material is discharged into said partconduit, a cage by which the material is screened causing separated air to .enter the fan casing; in combination, means means by completingthe conduit, into which the,

separated air is discharged by the fan and conducted to the other end of said part conduit.

18. In a machine for handling cotton and the like, having a fan and a casing in which it rotates, means forming part of themachine defining apart of a conduit connected at one end with the fan casing, means by which fibrous material is discharged into said part conduit, a cage by which the material is screened causing separated air to enter the fan, casing; in combination, means associated with the machine for confining the separated current Within the machine and completing an internal circulation system.

19. A machine of the character described comprising means at which loose tufts are thrown off, a fan for creating a current of air past said means so as to pick up and transport said tufts, means in the path of the air current to screen the tufts out of the air current, and means by which the separated air is reconducted through the fan and discharged adjacent to said first means to establish a circulating air current.

20. A machine of the character described comprising means defining a circulatory con- -duit, means to set up a continuous circulation of a substantially identical volume of air in said conduit, means by which fibrous material is loaded upon the air current for transportation along a part of the conduit, and means to screen out the fibrous material and direct the unloaded air back into circulation along the remaining part of the conduit.

21. A machine of the character described comprising means constituting a closed-cycle air circulatory system, means at one point in the system at which the air stream is loaded with a fibrous material for transportation of the fibrous material over a part of the system,and means at another point in the system" for extracting said fibrous material leaving the separated air to continue its circulation unimpeded over that portion of the system up to said one point.

ERNEST HAROLD ROGERS. 

